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Zhang Lang Unfermented Puerh
Region: Xishuangbanna
Type: High Mountain Puerh (1700-1900 meters)
Harvest: Spring 2012
Harvesters: Pulang people
JalamTeas returns to our roots with our latest ‘green’ unfermented offering: Zhang Lang: another town and another tea that gets precious little notice simply because so few actually have heard of – or consumed – it.
Zhang Lang is a small region near the Bada Mountains of southern Yunnan that has long produced great and slightly sweet unfermented Puerhs. It is another tea that rarely makes it out of the region that produces it, and Jeff has long wanted to put it out there on the tea radar of drinkers. Comparing it to our previous unfermented releases, it is a nice blend of the fragrant Nannuo tea, while having some of the lasting power of the Meng Song, but it is – as always – for our drinkers to determine.
Zhang Lang is a tea with a great fragrance, and though ever so sweet, its strength and tannins remain in the mouth long after it has been sipped. Harvested from medium tea trees (30-70 years old), by the ancient Pu or Pulang people it is an excellent tea to age due to the tradition of the Pulang to create teas with strength. Medium aged tea trees almost always produce teas with slightly more astringency and bite than their more ancient relatives. In the case of the Zhang Lang this quality actually assists adding some power to the inherent sweetness of the Zhang Lang leaves.
As with so many of the teas and tea regions that JalamTeas sources and seeks out, to actually get to area is in itself an adventure. The leaves of our Zhang Lang are harvested from a zone between 1700 and 1900 metres and it is a great mid-afternoon tea to revive with its unique fragrance and impact on the gums.
Picked in March of 2012, our Zhang Lang unfermented Puerh has had a year to ‘establish’ its own character. The Pulang people put aside teas 16 months or so before consuming to allow the dried leaves to develop and fix their character. The slightly red earth of the Zhang Lang area is noted for its rich nutrient content which provides an ideal home for tea’s deep roots.
Jeff is a huge fan of the Pulang people’s teas as they are traditionally quite simple and direct when consumed and produced. Their teas have always had great raw materials from which to begin, and over time the methods of production and attention to detail have only improved.
We hope you will enjoy our latest Zhang Lang offering from the deep south of Yunnan.
- Jeff Fuchs
Read the full background story: www.jalamteas.com/zhang
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